MINUTES
Moraine Township Board of Trustees
Thursday, March 23, 2006 7:30 PM
Highwood City Hall, Council Chambers

MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING
March 23, 2006

The meeting was called to order at 7:34 PM, and upon roll call the following members were present: Supervisor Mari Barnes; Trustees Bryna Gamson, Margoth Moreno, and Jeff Zaluda. Trustee Cynthia Plouché arrived at 8:00 PM.  Also Present: Assessor Patricia Lenzini; Director General Assistance Tracy Coleman; Janet Freed, community member. Clerk Ellen Gussin was absent.

Approval of Minutes
Trustee Zaluda moved, seconded by Trustee Moreno, approval of the Regular Meeting Minutes of February 23. Motion carried.

Approval of Bills
Trustee Zaluda moved, seconded by Trustee Moreno, approval of the bills. Upon roll call, motion carried.

Public Comment
None

Budget
Supervisor Barnes informed the Board that packets containing information for tonight’s meeting, including the proposed budget, were inadvertently left at the office. She reported that the budget categories had been reframed to more logically represent the way funds are expended: e.g., instead of categorizing some G.A. funds in terms of age groups served, the budget category is instead by function like “Emergency Assistance.” The public hearing for budget will be April 27.

Assessor's Report
Trish Lenzini, standing in for Pete Koukos, reported that the office is about to resume field work, now that the weather is growing milder. A new look at ravine properties is on the agenda.

Supervisor's Report
Supervisor Barnes reported:
    • that our packets had contained Clerk Gussin’s written report on the Early Voting that took place at the township office
    • that she is working on an Employee Manual; our lawyer has the draft now, to review
    • that she is considering implementing a health initiative, possibly a new plan to cover our employees
    • KICS (Kids In Community Service) will be performing their annual service day on April 21, and have asked the township to again fund the food they purchase from Sunset Foods to be bagged by them for PADS distribution. The Board concurred. For the last couple of years, the township has also paid up to $1,000 for tee shirts for the students, plus funded a $300+ party at Buffo’s. The Board will not be doing that; it was felt that the reward of doing a good deed project is more appropriate.
    • “Lake County Senior Day” will again be held at Independence Grove on June 14. We were asked if we would like to be a sponsor ($500 up) and/or provide volunteers. The Board decided not to sponsor, but to continue the local tradition of paying for a bus to transport our seniors there. Volunteers may sign up at a later date.
    • May 30 at 12:30pm is the time announced for ribbon cutting at the new Lake County Health Clinic in Highland Park. Supervisor Barnes called Lake County Health Director Dale Galassie to initiate conversation about how we can partner with them to serve our local residents. Trustee Moreno informed the Board that Jerry Rudman, chair of Friends For Health, has offered his group for any facilitation of clinic goals.
    • on getting our meetings on local cable: Comcast will charge $150 per meeting so Supervisor Barnes is looking at alternative camera operators -- whether Senior Producers (though getting the equipment to the site is a problem) or perhaps high school students.
    • that the new phone system is installed, and now calls can be forwarded from township office to assessor’s office seamlessly, and the dedicated van reservation line is ready (847-432-3000).
    • on her “garden project”: Supervisor Barnes has been lining up sites and partnerships to create locations for community gardens where residents can raise fresh produce for the Food Pantry. She has some agreements from the Park District in Highland Park (near Barberry), a school district, and Highwood (near the water tower).
    • May 13 is the Postal Food Drive date. Students from Lincoln School and a Boy Scout troupe plan to work some shifts helping to take in the food.
    • that we need to prepare some posters describing what sorts of staples the Food Pantry does need; we are overstocked on certain items like pumpkin filling and short of others like rice, oil, and salt.
    • that she picked up the new “Moraine Door-to-Door” van today and we have the month of April to get it ready for public use: 2 part time drivers have been hired; PACE will train them; we need to put a sign on the van; IC Church has asked for its use on a Sunday and the drivers have agreed to divide up those days, which IC will pay for.
    • that the new coupon books for taxi service have come back from the printer and are ready for distribution.

Committee Reports
Transportation
Trustee Plouché will be meeting with members of the Foundation associated with Highland Park Hospital to discuss funding support for the van program; she is developing a proposal for them. She reported on PR that has begun -- Supervisor Barnes is making the rounds of various groups to explain the new transportation programs. Janet Freed suggested we try to get Pioneer Press and the Tribune’s Metro section to run photos of the new van program as it launches.  Trustee Gamson reported that she had sent out a 3-page press release on March 5 to all local media, including the Highwood city newsletter (Reporter), Highland Park’s Highlander and larger papers. Gamson also reported that she and Plouché are working to get 100% involvement from all townships in Lake County for the Lake County Transportation coalition they are serving on.

Food Pantry
Trustee Moreno reported that things are going well. The Volunteer Pool volunteers have not been as regular as promised, according to Supervisor Barnes, however. Moreno asked that all volunteers be instructed to shelve goods consistently -- soups with soups, etc. She also encourages staff to bag more things per family to move out more of the supplies, especially in anticipation of the Postal food drive coming up.

Clothes Closet
Trustee Moreno reports that clothing is not a very hot item. Supervisor Barnes notes that more men, or women in search of clothes for children, come in. Business attire for women is not attractive to our clients.

Grant Advisory Committee
Trustee Gamson conducted a brief discussion with Board members to arrive at consensus about instructions to the Advisory Committee at their first meeting on April 3. It was agreed that the group should select its own chairperson and have the latitude to determine if they wish to make site visits to applicant organizations, and to be kept on track per the written Guidelines. They understand their work is advisory, but the Board will take very seriously their recommendations, which we hope will be concluded by the end of April.

Old Business
Trustee Gamson said that bids to perform the design work for a new web site range from under $1,500 to $20,000. All agreed that simple is best.

New Business
Staff report from Tracy Coleman: two $25 gifts were donated to the township, one in memory of Janet Freed’s relative and the other in honor of Pete Koukos’ selection as Humanitarian of the Year. She also reported a very busy office time with regard to the Medicare Part D issues, taking about an hour per client to do so. On April 12 and 25, the state is sending in staff to sign people up for their benefits, at the township office.

Adjournment
With no further business to conduct, Trustee Zaluda moved, seconded by Trustee Plouché, that the meeting be adjourned at 8:48 PM. Motion carried.

Respectfully submitted,

_______________________
Bryna Gamson, Trustee/in the absence of the Town Clerk

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